After Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, sunk $12 million into a television ad campaign to gain support across the country for stricter gun-control laws, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre accused Bloomberg of attempting to “buy America.”

“Americans don’t want [Bloomberg] telling them what food to eat,” said LaPierre. “They sure don’t want him telling them what self-defense firearms to own.”

The ads will air in Nevada, Ohio, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Arkansas and target pro-gun Senators who are up for re-election.

Following a press conference in Bushwick Monday afternoon, Bloomberg responded to the accusations.

“No one is buying votes,” he said, “What you are doing is you’re getting access with this money to tell the public the facts.”

The mayor went on to criticize the NRA for spending $100 million on an advertising campaign of its own, and that the group isn't open to compromise or listening to opposing viewpoints.

“They keep trying to say what’s going on from their point of view,” he said. “Whether it’s right of wrong, there is no other point of view.”

One television ad shows a man with a gun sitting on a pickup truck. “Background checks have nothing to do with taking guns away from anyone,” he says to the camera. “Closing loopholes will stop criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from buying guns.”

The mayor mentioned the low suicide rate in New York City, which he attributed to the city's tough gun-control laws and background checks keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and troubled individuals.

A reporter asked the mayor how he felt about the use of robo-calls in Newtown, Connecticut, objecting to gun-control legislation. “Sometimes people just don’t use good judgment,” Bloomberg said. “I guess the word 'shameless' comes up.”